Don the Beachcomber closing. Now where?

[Jokiho]

Hi folks,

I have 5 hours once I land at SNA before my travel partner (my sister) arrives on another flight. I was hoping to see something unique in the area before returning to SNA. Was hoping to see Don the Beachcomber's place but the word on the street is that it's closing down.

Does anyone else have a suggestion for unique, historic california area hangouts in the area? My plane arrives at 3:30 but I need to be back at SNA to pick up my sister.

My focus on this trip is disneyland. That being the case, I would hate waiting 5 hours at SNA when I could be out seeing the town.

 

[theluckyrabbit]

You won't be far from Fashion Island (very nice outdoor mall) and South Coast Plaza (upscale indoor mall). You can look online to see if there is anything at either location that interests you. The Orange County Performing Arts Center is across the street from SCP -- there is a brand new outdoor plaza there (Argyros Plaza) and a sculpture garden. I don't know if you could make it to the Bowers Museum and back in time for your sister's flight, but you could look at the website to see if it interests you. Roger's Gardens is a lovely nursery with a restaurant and shops (very close to Fashion Island) -- check their website for more info. Since Don the Beachcomber's is off the list, were there other restaurants/types of food that you wanted to try in the area?

 

[Jokiho]

You won't be far from Fashion Island (very nice outdoor mall) and South Coast Plaza (upscale indoor mall). You can look online to see if there is anything at either location that interests you. The Orange County Performing Arts Center is across the street from SCP -- there is a brand new outdoor plaza there (Argyros Plaza) and a sculpture garden. I don't know if you could make it to the Bowers Museum and back in time for your sister's flight, but you could look at the website to see if it interests you. Roger's Gardens is a lovely nursery with a restaurant and shops (very close to Fashion Island) -- check their website for more info. Since Don the Beachcomber's is off the list, were there other restaurants/types of food that you wanted to try in the area?

This is awesome- thank you so much! I might head over to Fashion island to see what they ave. Bowers museum looks cool too. This will be difficult to pick!

 

[theluckyrabbit]

I might tend to go with Fashion Island. Just in case your sister's flight comes in early, or if something else requires you to get back to SNA quickly, Fashion Island would allow for that more easily than the Bower's Museum. (Although, you are right -- the Bower's is pretty cool and the adjoining restaurant, Tangata, is nice, too.)

 

[hodad]

Fashion Island is a boring mall. Don't go there or SCP.

http://www.lamag.com/askchris/tiki-road-map-southern-california/